George English Hoke, a gentle man, died peacefully at his home in Bellevue on November 5, 2020. Born to George Edwin and Krin English Hoke at Valley Ranch, NM, and having grown up in states across the country, George lived a life filled with learning and friendship. He married Clementena Betsey Mickelson in 1957, who passed away in 2003.
Trained as a mechanical engineer at Purdue University (1950) and an honorably discharged servicemember in both the Navy (1946) and the Army (1954), he worked as a mechanical engineer at the Boeing Company for 33 years. He was named the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Engineering Division Employee of the Year in 1988.
He was an innovative, ever-curious man with little time for television. He was a woodworker, machinist, and avid reader and writer. He loved the mountains and waters of the Pacific Northwest and raised his family to camp, hike, boat, and travel. Following his retirement, he machined and constructed a 1/8th-scale steam locomotive, which he operated at Train Mountain Railroad in southern Oregon and Kitsap Live Steamers in Washington. He shared his love for trains with his family during many summer trips to Train Mountain.
A lover of education and learning, George dedicated many hours to researching family history. He compiled a genealogy of the Hoke-English line dating back to the arrival of his ancestors in North America. He wrote family histories on the life of his grandfather, C. C. Hoke, and his own story.
After Betsey’s passing, George met Beverly Kendall and they spent many years together prior to Beverly’s death earlier in 2020.
George is survived by his five siblings: Marty Bowne, Charles Hoke (Carol), William Hoke (Patty Graf), Amanda DuBois (Philip), and Chad Hoke (Linda Kobara); three children: Tena Hoke (Jim Binkley), Duncan Hoke (Debra McAuley), and Nancy Devine (Kirk); honorary family member Annamaria Sarosi; and six grandchildren: Cameron Devine, Harrison Devine, Andrew Hoke, Monika Hoke, Emily Hoke, and Alexandra Robertson.
He cherished friendships with a wide group of people, including train friends, neighbors, former classmates, and co-workers. His many friends remember that his door was always open and that he was eminently hospitable, inquisitive, kind, civically engaged, generous, and thoughtful.
Donations may be made in his name to Hogar Infantil of Texas, Kitsap Live Steamers, or the Train Mountain Institute.
He will be inurned at Sunset Memorial Cemetery, and his memorial service will be held virtually. The date of the service will be posted on his Dignity Memorial obituary.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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